What an easy question Scott Pelley asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on “60 Minutes,” Jan. 29. At least it should have been easy for the top man in our war department.

But Panetta was stumped. President Obama has started so many wars (none of which were declared by Congress) that Panetta said, with an embarrassed laugh, “It’s a good question. I’ll have to stop and think about that.”

Republican candidates Gingrich, Romney and Santorum are all eager to start more wars. But, if we want multiple endless wars based on lies (with hundreds of thousands more deaths), why change presidents? Just re-elect the one we have.

On the other hand, there is one candidate who would totally turn this policy around. He would allow no wars based on lies, and no wars without a congressional declaration as required by the Constitution.

This candidate has no multimillionaire to fund his campaign. The corporate news media dislikes him and tries to avoid mentioning his name.

But, in spite of these handicaps, Ron Paul is doing well in polls and caucuses as his supporters work with limited resources to get his message out.